White supremacy: what is it, history, symbols

THE supremacyWhite it is an ideology that believes in the false idea of ​​the natural superiority of the white man. Supremacists nurture ideals racist against different groups of humanity and currently have a strong connection with the neo-Nazism. Historically, one of the great symbols of white supremacists was the Ku Klux Klan.

Accessalso: Antifascists, group that fights neo-Nazis and white supremacists

Understanding what white supremacy is

White supremacy is a set of idealsracist who believe that the white man is naturally superior to humans of other racial origins. The supremacists credit this supposed superiority to evidencescientificfake. The belief in this alleged superiority makes the supremacists defend the maintenance of racist government systems that guarantee the privileges of the white population.

Supremacists believe in the false idea that the white man is naturally superior.[1]

The belief in white supremacy was used as an argument for justify colonization from the Americas, Africa and Asia, as well as

the slavery, an institution that operated on the American continent for nearly three centuries. Experts understand supremacy as an extremist conception, based on racist ideas, and which is present in groups of the far right.

Thus, white supremacists sustain a hate speech against indigenous populations, against Africans and their descendants, and, in cases of supremacists who align themselves with neo-Nazis, Jews also become the target of this discourse. Throughout history, one of the best known groups of white supremacists was the Ku Klux Klan, which emerged in the U.S.

You supremacist groups do not understand themselves as racist, because, in their ideology, as mentioned, there is the belief that the white man is naturally superior to other human groups. Thus, as they believe they are superior, what they say about other groups is not understood as racism, but as a fact.

The belief in the alleged superiority of the white man was established as an ideology with the arrival of Europeans in America. The violence of colonization and the horrors of slavery were ideologically justified on the basis of this idea. From the nineteenth century, the supremacist discourse sought, through science, to create a narrative that would prove the superiority of the white man.

These attempts, of course, have no acceptance by the international scientific community. Furthermore, white supremacist ideals were and are used in maintenance of social differences and of racist laws, which guarantee the privilege of the portion of the white population. Currently, many of the white supremacist groups are associated with neo-Nazi groups, that is, groups that rescue and exalt the ideals of the Nazism.

White supremacists stand against measures of social affirmation that aim to combat historical inequalities. Position themselves too against immigration, especially from groups considered “inferior” by them.

Commonly, supremacists associate their idea of national identity with "racial purity", therefore, using the example of the United States, it is only American, for a supremacist, the individual who is white. Lastly, defend conspiracy theories, such as the idea of ​​the “white genocide”, which treats the miscegenation of the population as a form of extinction for whites.

Accessalso: Was Nazism on the left or on the right?

white supremacy in history

The Ku Klux Klan is, even today, one of the great examples of supremacist organization that existed in history.

As mentioned, white supremacy ideals have historically been used to justify exploitation and violence committed against non-white populations. The racial segregation regime that existed in South Africa in the second half of the 20th century, the Thepartheid, is one of the most obvious examples of how white supremacy ideals work.

As mentioned, the idea of ​​white supremacy was used to justify the colonization and enslavement of people throughout history. Ideals that were widespread in the 19th century, such as the “white man's burden”, brought with them this idea that considered whites to be superior to non-whites.

The United States is one of the great examples when studying white supremacism. These ideals were remarkably strong in this country and took on a new dimension after the war of Secession. The defeat of the southerners and the end of slavery in the United States, in addition to the measures taken in the country after the Thirteenth Constitutional Amendment, generated a reaction.

One of the reactions resulted in the Jim Crow Laws, which established the separation of whites and blacks in public places. Thus, schools for blacks, toilets for blacks, restaurants for blacks were established. All of this was aimed at driving the African-American population away from the places frequented by whites. This segregation continued until the 1960s.

In addition, bans on interracial marriages were established, limitations were imposed to make it difficult for black people to vote. Finally, a whole system was established whose aim was to maintain the privileges of the white population. However, this was not the only manifestation of white supremacy that existed in the US.

At the same time, a terrorist group emerged that, to this day, is considered the largest supremacist group in history: the KuKluxklan. This terrorist organization advocated the ideals that believed in the superiority of the white man and emerged around 1865 in Tennessee. This group, commonly known as HAHAHA or klan, defended racial segregation and preached hatred against the African-American population.

The members of the KKK walked hooded and chased the part of the black population in the places where they worked. Thus, it was common for its members to destroy the homes of blacks, as well as carry out public beatings and hangings of African Americans. Even white Americans who criticized them were the targets of their violence.

Accessalso: Holocaust - the genocide carried out by the Nazis

Supremacist symbols

Supremacist groups set up covertly and use various symbols to get their message across, either covertly or more openly. Many of the symbols of supremacist groups are confused with neo-Nazi symbols, for example. Supremacist symbols, in general, were established through the appropriation of common symbols that were used in different contexts.

It is important to consider that, although neo-Nazis and supremacists make use of these symbols, they are also used by common people who have no relation to these ideals. Finally, there are organizations such as the turns onAnti-Defamation, experts in the study and analysis of symbols used by supremacists.

• ok symbol

In recent years, the hand-crafted ok sign has been appropriated by supremacists and turned into a racist gesture.

Traditionally, this hand gesture is used in countries like the United States as a reference to the word ok. However, in recent years, white supremacist groups have come to use it as a reference to WP, acronym for whitepower, a term that means “white power” and is widely used by supremacists.

• Algiz

The rune symbol came to be seen by many supremacists as a symbol of racial purity.

The symbol known as algiz is a rune symbol (alphabet used by vikings) and is associated with the word life. With the rise of Nazism, the symbol came to be used as a synonymous for the term Aryan, which designates the ideal type of human being in Nazi ideology. Algiz is very present in neo-Nazi groups.

• Glass of milk

The act of consuming milk has also been appropriated by supremacists to propagate their belief in the superiority of the white man. Many supremacist groups have also used milk consumption as a way to pass on your ideals.

Image credits:

[1] mark reinstein and Shutterstock

By Daniel Neves Silva
History teacher

Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historia/supremacia-branca.htm